


Sweeter Than Birdsong

by SomewhatByronically



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: M/M, a little bit of angst, and kissing, and whispered confessions, but also lots of cuddles, mostly cuddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-09
Updated: 2015-02-09
Packaged: 2018-03-11 07:36:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3319346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SomewhatByronically/pseuds/SomewhatByronically
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thranduil doesn't yet fully comprehend the sleep habits of mortals.</p><blockquote>
  <p>Thranduil tightens his arm around his dragonslayer and exhales onto his neck.  Like this, he can feel Bard’s heartbeat, strong and vital, underneath his hand.</p>
</blockquote>
            </blockquote>





	Sweeter Than Birdsong

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was inspired by [this](http://princedurin.tumblr.com/post/110279729146/thranduil-wanting-to-tell-bard-he-loves-him-but) post, it'll be up on [my tumblr](http://somewhatbyronically.tumblr.com) soon.
> 
> Enjoy!

Tangled up in sheets, Thranduil is acutely aware of every inch of Bard’s warmth pressed up against his body. Lined up from head to toe, his head rests just behind Bard’s, his right arm is curled lazily around his beloved’s chest and Thranduil leaves their legs entangled despite the uniquely human chill Bard’s feet take on in the night. Thranduil tightens his arm around his dragonslayer and exhales onto his neck. Like this, he can feel Bard’s heartbeat, strong and vital, underneath his hand. A melancholy seeps into his chest, knowing that one day its steady beat will falter and his beloved will be gone. 

Refocusing on the present and leaving the future to care for itself, Thranduil closes his eyes and feels the rise and fall of Bard’s chest underneath his arm. For his love still draws breath and Thranduil would be a fool if he does not enjoy every moment of it. Thranduil thinks of the simplicity of it all, he thinks of the security and warmth that curled up and settled around his ice-cold heart the first time Bard kissed him. He thinks of the smiles, going from few and far between to imminent and easy whenever his bowman is around. He thinks of how delicate and mortal his love is, but Thranduil can’t help but be awed by his strength and virtue. Bard shifts and sighs slightly in Thranduil’s arms and Thranduil can’t help but smile to himself, at himself, for falling in love with such a brilliant, singular, and enrapturing man. 

Thranduil nuzzled his nose in towards the back of Bard’s neck and placed a careful, chaste kiss there. Exhaling and whispering in a voice weakened by the overwhelming truth of his words, Thranduil spoke,

“Ge melin.”

Thranduil came back to himself as the sun was pouring in through the balcony across the room. He lowered his gaze to find a sleepy King of Dale staring at his bare chest and running his fingers in patterns unknown across the skin he found there.

Hesitant to ruin the quiet moment, Thranduil murmured, “Good morning.”

Still blinking the sleep from his eyes, Bard faced Thranduil with his mouth languidly stretched into a grin. Thranduil felt Bard’s hand come to rest on his hipbone underneath the sheets and Bard glanced back down to watch as it wound slowly up Thranduil’s side, leaving modest shivers in it’s wake. Coming up over Thranduil’s shoulder and resting on his neck, Bard’s thumb began to stroke the backside of Thranduil’s jaw as he recaptured Thranduil’s gaze in his own.

Bard shifted and closed the distance to his lover’s lips slowly, eyes closed, trusting and amatory. Thranduil closed his own eyes as he felt Bard’s lips press against his own, soft and pliant, exploring with no real purpose in the slowness of the morning.

Finally, Bard pulled back, dragging his lips along Thranduil’s jawbone placing few leisurely kisses as he went, propping himself up so that he could reach Thranduil’s ear. Thranduil relaxed into the touch, inhaling deeply and enjoying the earthen and musky scent of his lover.

Color rose in Thranduil’s cheeks as he felt a kiss ghost the tip of his ear, Bard’s breath coming slow and steady over the sensitive shell.

Bard’s words resonate deep in his chest, “I love you too.”

Thranduil can’t but freeze as Bard comes back down to his face. Thranduil’s mind is racing and somehow simultaneously refusing to process the words he just heard. He is only brought back to reality as Bard’s hand moves up and his thumb strokes Thranduil’s now obviously reddened cheekbone.

Only a few words can escape Thranduil’s bewildered mind, “But your eyes were closed.”

Bard snickers, low and deep and it is the most beautiful music Thranduil has ever heard.

**Author's Note:**

> "Ge melin." meaning "I love you."
> 
> If anyone could educate me on the finer points on the reverential versus familiar forms of Sindarian, that'd be great. Because all the references I looked at, while mentioning the existence of both forms, never really touched on the usage.
> 
> This was incredibly fun to write.
> 
> -Ada


End file.
